Worth It
by Emerald Pineapple
Summary: Elphaba had been taught three rules all her life, and now that she on her own at Shiz, how long will it take her to break? Especially once she meets a certain blonde? Gelphie and rated T for now, may subject to change later.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hey! It's been a while but here we are and I thought I would try my hand at some Gelphie! As always, please review and tell me what you think! Please Enjoy!

"Oh Oz…" An emerald skinned girl whispered under her breath, just waiting for everything to fall apart.

Elphaba Thropp had been waiting all her life to go to Shiz University. As a child she was moving a lot, with her father being a preacher of his so called "Unnamed God," she never had the chance to settle down like other children, though she probably wouldn't be able to have a normal childhood anyway.

Early on, she learned several rules in her household that still were instilled into her till the moment she got on the train with her sister Nessarose to go to Shiz. There were three rules in total.

The first one was whispered down to her by her slightly overweight father when he came home one day to find his wife entertaining someone else. For once, her father had forgotten about the deformity that had haunted his family and his eldest daughter and he bent down on his knees, struggling with his arthritis, to whisper to the doe eyed emerald girl,

"Love is bullshit, never trust someone bewitched by love, especially a woman."

As a small child she shuddered away when she saw her father spit such venom towards her mother and spoke such forbidden words, as he had chided her when she came home after her friend Boq had taught her several choice words.

The second rule was to pretend she was normal. After watching her father being chased away literally when he tried to speak passionately about his own religious beliefs, he had taken his older daughter with him in an attempt to escape his unfaithful wife under the pretense that he was only meaning to make more money. They moved to a small rented out room with several others in a boarding house. That was the second longest place Elphaba had lived, where she was able to spend enough time to attend one year of high school. After being in school for over half a year with the expected bullies, she was walking home one day when several students in her class came up behind her and threw rotten fruit at her. It was no lie that Elphaba was poverty stricken, giving students even more ammunition to tease her with besides her unusual skin color. Feeling threatened, she relinquished any remaining self control she had left and found herself creating a sand storming around herself, leaving the other kids unintentionally with burns from the sand and wind. They had run away and screamed, freak, to anyone who could hear.

The newly found witch had collapsed on the earthen path and sobbed into her knees until she felt strong arms scoop her up and she knew her father had found her. As they walked back to their small cottage, he spoke softly into her raven hair,

"Pretend you're normal, then they won't have anything to hurt you with."

The final rule was one that had followed her for 18 years of her life. Elphaba was still a baby when her father had spoke into the soft tufts of her growing baby hair. Frexspar had just spent the past sixteen excruciating hours by his wife's bedside as he watched her struggling through her second labor. Earlier he was borderline on a panic attack and prayed to the unnamed god that his second daughter wasn't going to be an asparagus like his first child. After everything went wrong, when Elphaba's mother started screaming at the top of her lungs, did Elphaba wonder what was happening. She toddled over to hold onto her father's knees.

"Can I see the baby?" Elphaba asked in anticipation, bouncing on her toes.

"Not right now, your mother and Nessarose are resting."

"Nessarose?" She asked, stuttering with the new name.

It was then that he told his daughter the first of many times,

"It will be your job to protect Nessarose."

He looked into her large, doe like eyes until she whispered into his shoulder,

"Okay."

—

The public carriage that had driven Elphaba and Nessa from the train station left them in the front ivy covered gates. The amount of ivy was overwhelming and absurd to Elphaba, it trimmed the gates and started to weave through the iron bars that made up the gates. The green girl was still trying to be optimistic, since she had waited for this moment all her life. Finally, she would feel the exhilaration of unlimited knowledge at her fingertips and even a place where having magical abilities already was praised. So far she wasn't, just extremely anxious, but so anxious in fact she was currently losing the meal she had been fed on the train that just wouldn't sit right.

"Are you quite alright dear?" A strangers voice called out to her as she bent over the bushes.

Embarrassed, Elphaba completely forgot the bizarreness of her skin color to strangers and wiped her mouth with the side of her school uniform blazer. She then turned around to face the first Animal she had seen on campus. The Animal in question, a Goat, jumped a little at his first sight of her, but tried to mask it. They stood in silence till he inclined his head, making her realizing she hadn't answered him yet.

"Yes, thank you though sir." She spoke in haste.

"You sure madam? Your face is looking quite…"

"Green, yes, I know," looking down at the pavement beneath the Goat's hooves until he broke the silence yet again.

"Dr. Dillamond, Professor of Science and History," he extended a hoof.

"Elphaba Thropp, and this is…" She looked around for her sister in a sudden panic for Nessa after realizing that the younger Thropp was nowhere in sight. "Oh Oz…"

Elphaba berated herself, not even thirty minutes into her first day at Shiz and she had already broken one of her father's rules. Tears started to build and cloud her vision till the green girl couldn't see the Goat infront of her.

"You mean the young lady in the wheelchair? I saw her near the orientation hall."

A large sigh escape her unintentionally. So, she hadn't failed her father completely, yet. Upon seeing her relief, Dr. Dillamond asked her kindly,

"Would you like to join me for afternoon tea?"

The green girl saw her chance and immediately took it, happy to have an excuse not to confront the other students yet.

—

"Wow," Elphaba muttered louder than she intended after walking inside the orientation hall, making Dr. Dillamond pull her from her thoughts by saying,

"Quite, I still remember my first time entering this University."

The inside of the University was no less impressive than the outside, with red brocade curtains covering ceiling tall windows to allow the impressive chandelier in the center of the vaulted ceiling room to illuminate the room. Carpet hugged each wall, with flowers patterned into every inch, which Elphaba assumed was made by some one of the Winkie tribe that lived in the A Thousands Years Grassland. After noticing these, her attention was drawn to who, or rather, what, was standing at the front of the room.

"Madame Morrible!" Dr. Dillamond politely tried to kiss her hand before it was snatched away violently in hidden disgust.

"Ahh, Dr. Dillamond! I assume you just returned for the beginning of term?" The woman answered with a facial expression of someone trying to ignore a bad smell.

Elphaba knew better than anyone that staring is extremely rude, but she couldn't help but stare at the headmaster of this school. A flamboyant wine colored dress that gather at the rear and bound the woman's legs tightly with a separate train that flared out at the ground made her look like a fish, followed by a heavy layer of dense white powder on the woman's sour face. Red lips and purple lidded eyes just added to the ensemble, with curly blonde hair piled on the top of her head to finish the ensemble.

"Yes, Madame, I arrived on the morning train, but found Ms. Thropp here, exploring, and decided I should lead her to the correct place.

It was then that Madame noticed Elphaba, and took her in all at once. With a facial reaction rivaling her opinion of Dr. Dillamond, Madame Morrible tried to mask her face of disgust and horror with an awkward smile. It was finally then that Elphaba spoke up,

"I presume you have met my younger sister, Nessarose?"

The green girl saw the realization spark in the elder's eyes realizing that the tragically beautiful girl was related to the beautifully tragic girl.

An awkward silence followed, one that was only broken by the roaring laughter coming from the doorway announcing the arrival of several other students.

What looked like a future queen bee and her faceless cronies had entered the room, though the lead girl had a veil on her cream colored hat that covered her face from the green girl's view. But as this girl entered the room, and lifted up the veil, Elphaba broke yet another one of her father's rules.

Elphaba Thropp had fallen in love, but even worse, with a woman.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: So, usually notes are the last things I write, but I need to explain somethings. First of all, I did not abandon this fic, I've just been extremely busy with life and I've continually been busy with acting in local musicals and plays, I actually skipped an audition to write this. I feel terrible for being so unreliable, as I truly appreciate all the support my first chapter got, it's been way too long. Please feel free to bug me personally until the next one comes out, because I intend to make these way more regular. I appreciate your patience and please read and review!

This chapter contains some quotes from Wicked: The Musical, and belong to the creators of Wicked and well as the characters who belong to Gregory Maquire.

—

"I do hope it's not my scones, , that are putting you off from food?" , the only Animal professor in Shiz said to his green pupil over a cup of tea.

"No, sir, really your baking is quite lovely,"

"You flatter me, but if you don't mind me saying, you don't seem very well." He asked concerned.

If it had been another person, Elphaba probably would have scoffed and thought him rude, but as the Doctor seemed very sincere, she sighed and forced herself to lie.

"It's just the rush of the day, I've never traveled by train before sir." Though it was true, Elphaba had only ever walked by foot or rarely ridden by horse carriage.

The truth was, Elphaba constantly felt her face flush in the half hour she had been having tea with Dr. Dillamond, as she kept thinking back to the one glimpse she got of the, dare she say it, gorgeous girl whom she had seen in the orientation hall. The girl, whose name was Galinda (a bit perky for Elphaba's taste, but she didn't mind,) didn't pay any sort of attention to Elphaba, until the two girls went to sign in and pick up their schedules.

—

Tentatively, the green witch walked up to the sign in table, to pick up her and Nessa's dorm keys and schedules, when she was almost run over by a clutch of girls in heels. One particularly nasty one, stuck her stiletto straight into Elphaba's foot, who only had a soft leather boot on.

"Watch it!" Elphaba involuntarily shouted, tripping and falling to the ground in pain, bringing the girl down with her.

There was a split moment when Elphaba had hoped that maybe things at Shiz would be different, maybe she wouldn't be horribly out of place, as the girl had muttered a simple,

"Sorry."

But the truth was, the other fallen girl hadn't gotten a glimpse of Elphaba yet, but the green girl knew when she did.

"Ew! Get away freak!"

Looked like Shiz was going to be exactly the same as home.

"She-shen, get away! I think she's contaminated!" A high, girlish voice screamed.

That did it for Elphaba, getting called a freak was one thing, but being called contaminated, that was something she hadn't been called in a long time, and it didn't hurt any less.

Quickly, the green girl pushed herself up onto her feet and looked around for the voice who called her "contaminated." It wasn't until the voice spoke again spoke did she find a culprit.

"Do you think she's dying?"

Elphaba turned and found her target, the stupidly beautiful girl. Elphaba quickly strode over to her and quipped,

"Well, well, just who are we here? Another blonde attending a university in hopes of finding a man."

The girl was aghast, yelling in indignation,

"I am Galinda Upland of the Upper Uplands, and I think maybe you shouldn't have eaten so much grass as a child!"

"Why you little bi-"

"Elphaba! Stop it!" Nessarose cried, wheeling her chair over to split the girls up.

Tears started to form in Nessa's eyes as she faced Elphaba in disappointment and horror.

"You promised Father," she gulped, "you promised me, you wouldn't loose your temper and embarrass us!"

That was when the gravity of reality hit her. Here Elphaba was, already making enemies when she had promised her family, and herself, that she would start a new chapter in her life. Especially with this girl, Galinda, who had the most lovely eyes the green girl had ever seen. With hair as blonde as the sunshine itself, and the most beautiful curves that left Elphaba blushing, it made the witch even more angry how abrasive she was behaving towards the breathtaking student.

"Sorry," she muttered, until her breath.

"I'm sorry what did the vegetable say?" Galinda asked, holding her hand up to one of her ears, batting her eyelashes for dramatic effect.

"I'm sorry!" Elphaba shouted, almost turning red in an infuriated state, and turned on her heels, and left the orientation hall, dorm keys and schedule be damned.

As she walked off, Elphaba tried to block out the finale taunt sent by Galinda.

"Looks like the traffic light finally turned red!"

—

After Elphaba ended up relaying her tale to Dr. Dilamond, he simply clucked his tongue, whether out of disappointment or amusement, Elphaba wasn't sure.

"Well, one thing's for sure," her paused for effect, "you are sure to make a splash at Shiz," The professor relayed, chuckling quietly.

"You're not wrong Doctor," Elphaba concurred, looking down at her green hands resting in her lap.

It wasn't until several more silent minutes only interrupted by the clink of a teacup on a saucer that it was the Goat who spoke again.

"Dear, forgive me for asking, but have you resolved things with your sister at least?"

Elphaba looked up at Dr. Dillamond, seeing the genuine concern in his soft brown eyes. This caused her to sign in resignation and lean back into her chair, setting down her now cooling cup of tea onto the china saucer.

"Can I be truthful?"

"Of course," the Goat said with concern.

"I don't know if I'll ever be able to."

—

Despite the tea Elphaba shared with Dr. Dillamond, she still wasn't enjoying her time at Shiz, her worst problem being her sister and their spat. It really didn't matter that Galinda had been mean, she was used to it. The real problem was the promise she broke with both Nessarose and her father about her temper. Elphaba was extremely lucky in this case that she didn't tap into her magic, though it was a rare occurrence, Elphaba's temper could trigger it and things would usually spiral out of hand from there.

She quickly decided she needed to talk to Nessa, and hopefully with a little luck they would make up and be able go pick up their schedules and dorm keys together. It wasn't hard to find her sister, the campus was sprawling but the witch assumed that Nessa wouldn't stray too far from the orientation hall. Maybe because she feared getting lost, or because she hoped Elphaba to return. Sure enough, the green girl found her sister next to a bench talking to a Munckin boy very politely.

Walking over, Elphaba realized how much Nessa was the perfect image of a lady. With an aristocratic nose with an elegant pointed tip, soft cheekbones with the smallest amount of rosiness that contrasted with her milky skin and chocolate colored hair, Nessa was the perfect example of refined beauty. The only thing that ruined the image was her legs.

With the knee length of the Shiz uniform, people had a clear view of Nessa's only oddity, though anyone who called Nessa deformed would experience her older sister's wrath. Because to Elphaba, Nessarose Thropp was perfect.

Her legs though, they were disproportional to her body and unusually small. They twisted so her knees were force to face inwards and one foot dangled loosely, as she didn't have any feeling in it. Though she couldn't move her legs, she still had nerves in them, apart from her left foot.

"Nessa!"

It was clear Nessa was trying to pretend she didn't know her older sister, but she couldn't ignore her as she turned in recognition after hearing her name being called. But, after Elphaba glanced to the boy Nessa was talking to, she forgot her sister for a second.

"Boq!" Elphaba cried, throwing her arms around her childhood friend.

"El!" Boq yelled with joy, hugging her back with vigor.

Though it had been years since they saw each other, time couldn't erase the years of friendship they shared. And Boq surely couldn't forget Elphaba, or as he liked to call her, El. When they were small, Elphaba's name was far to large for Boq's toddler dialect to pronounce, thus resulting in her nickname.

Boq had aged well, with beautiful olive skin that would make any girl jealous. He was tan and a tad bit muscular, which wasn't unusual for people from Elphaba's village as the citizens were forced to walk everywhere. Things like carriages and bicycles were a luxury for the few rich upperclassmen. His smile hadn't changed though, it still was as sweet and innocent as honeydew and lit up his entire face.

"How've you been El! It's been so long!" Boq exclaimed, pulling back from their hug to get a good look at the green girl.

Nessarose felt left out, as Elphaba and Boq were in a grade above her and they never saw much of each other at school. Jealously fueled words interrupted the exchange.

"Elphaba what are you doing here? It was terribly rude for you to interrupt us!"

"It's alright Nessa, I'm so happy to have you both here, it's been too long." Boq turned to reassure the her.

Nessa was still enraged however and it was clear that she was set to explode at Elphaba any second. Tension filled the conversation.

"Nessa, I'm sorry for what happened. I promised you and father that I wouldn't lose my temper like that. But I did. And I hope you'll give me a chance to prove to you that I'm better than my lost temper, and that we can truly start fresh here. I want to start fresh here, together. Please."

"You're not sorry," Nessa spat back, forgetting they had an audience.

"What?!" Elphaba sputtered, shocked that her sister would act this way as they always managed to make up. This Nessa was a stranger to her.

"Not as sorry as you will be," the younger sister spoke through gritted teeth.

"I don't understand?"

"We're not rooming together."

Silence, deafening silence surrounded the three students.

"Nessa! No! I promised father I would take care of you!" Elphaba grabbed her sister's hand, only to get it vehemently tugged away.

"I don't need you and your "help." You've already helped enough freak."

That stung. More than anything anyone had every said. Though Nessa was a little bratty and selfish from time to time, Elphaba loved her more than anyone else in the world. But it had been said, and her words hurt like hell. A hot poker in the witch's heart would have been less painful. All she could do was ask in a shaky voice, trying not to let tears overwhelm her.

"Who's my roommate then?"

Nessa didn't answer her, but instead reached into a leather satchel attached to the side of her wheelchair and grabbed out a set of keys and a piece of paper. She dropped the paper to the ground below her, and began to roll away, making sure to run it over. The crumpled and dirty paper was her schedule, Elphaba realized as she picked it up. Before the green girl could react any further, Nessa threw the keys into the thick grass of the common area so her older sister would have a horrid time looking for her dorm keys. One final quip from Nessa made the air turn terribly cold.

"Have fun rooming with the dumb blonde, freak."

A/N: Please review! I'd love to hear feedback or anything you would like to say! Thank you!


End file.
